Oct 29, 2013

01:55 PM

Bespoke Parisian Skin Care Arrives at The Delamar Spa in Greenwich

See how she leans her cheek upon her hand.
O, that I were a glove upon that hand
That I might touch that cheek!
―Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet

A cheek to inspire such passion could be—should be—yours, no matter your age.

And it can be with the right skincare, through “a clinical approach to beauty care using intentionally pure, concentrated, raw ingredients, as well as innovative and meticulous protocols and procedures.”

With its Mediterannean style, sumptuous l’escale restaurant (contemporary Provencale fare) and waterfront location (you can arrive by boat), the Delamar is fully, and proudly, a “luxury boutique hotel.”

Even as the breakfast event upheld that sense of pampered refinement, there was another vibe in the air, this one courtesy of Dr. Philippe Allouche, MD, Head of Creation, co-owner and CEO of North America division of Biologique Recherche, who flew in from Paris and was joined by Rupert Schmid, co-owner and chairman, France, for Biologique Recherche, in welcoming Biologique Recherche’s lead trainer, Barbara Aquino, as the new Head Esthetician and Spa Manager for Delamar Spa.

So perfect is this new partnership, Dr. Allouche said, Biologique Recherche is “giving” the Delamar Aquino—a native of Eastern Europe who is among a select few estheticians trained personally by Madame Allouche, the Biologique Recherche brand's founder, and whose most striking feature is skin for Juliet to envy, a cheek any glove would desire to touch.

Aquino’s skin elicited praise from some friends of the Delamar spa who had gathered for breakfast to hear about the Biologique Rechérche skincare line and the “facial treatments, combined with a non-surgical remodelling face-lift, which instantly transforms every skin type.”

But it was Dr. Allouche—reinforced articulately by Schmid’s elaborations on Biologique Rechérche—who stole the show and created the vibe that put the theme of luxury in the back seat to drive home the homily that skincare is both (medical) science and an art.

The charismatic Frenchman called skin the body’s “roof,” and built upon the foundation of his medical knowledge a narrative of skincare myths, misguided approaches to care and then the integrated approach of Biologique Rechérche.

“To simply put it, our skin can be compared to a house,” Dr. Allouche elaborates on the Biologique Rechérche website, saying, “If the roof is built badly and cannot guarantee protection against external aggressions, everything inside is subjected to stress and becomes vulnerable.”

“First, one needs to take a closer look at the epidermis to create a surface for youth and radiance,” he says of the Biologique Rechérche methodology. “This approach to observe how the epidermis is constantly interfacing with the skin's deeper structures is known as ‘interface cosmetology.’ It enables an understanding of how cosmetic active ingredients can act perfectly from the moment they make contact with the epidermis without needing to go through it.”

If that sounds scientific, consider this example from the Biologique Rechérche philosophy: None of us has normal, dry or oily skin. Instead, Dr. Allouche explains persuasively, we have varying “skin instants,” or statuses, which can evolve in the course of a single day. After traveling for an extended period in the artificial air of airports and planes, for example, one’s skin would be more dry than at other times.

“A person has not one but several skins,” Dr. Allouche says on the website. “Our skin's condition changes several times a single day as well as during the course of our lifetimes. … The artificial categorization of skins as normal, dry or oily provides a poor psychological definition of a skin's condition and only gives a stationary image of the epidermal cosmetic imbalances.”

“The same epidermis can present balanced, dehydrated zones and hyper-secretion of sebum all at the same time,” the site says. “Inappropriate treatment can easily lead to new imbalances or reactive old ones. For example, an over aggressive product for so called "oily" skins can cause epidermal hydration problems, while a comedogenous or over-rich product used on formally hyper-seborrheic, now apparently balanced skin and trigger a recurrence of the earlier condition.”

Biologique Recherche's methodology also addresses such external factors as climate, temperature, air-conditioning, tobacco, and pollution, along with internal factors like stress, sexual hormones and hygiene. “Biologique Recherche professionals are trained to analyze all these variables and advise the women and men on the treatment that is best suited to their ‘Skin Instants,’ the site explains.

At last Thursday’s event, Dr. Allouche wasn't focused on Biologique’s impressive and growing success—the exclusive brand, with products made only in Paris, is now available in more than 50 countries. Instead, his passion was the medical science and methodology of skincare, a “holistic approach to the skin as an organ directly interconnected to all the other vital body functions,” and the proper clinical approach that results in creating a “surface for youth and radiance.”

And that means giving Aquino to the Delamar—and, therefore, giving her knowledge and talent to Connecticut and beyond.